


time, like a trickle

by AmiLu



Category: Black Clover - 田畠裕基 | Tabata Yuki
Genre: (Tiny manga spoilers though), Aged-Up Character(s), Alternate Universe - Post-Canon, M/M, One Shot, possible manga spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-20
Updated: 2018-02-20
Packaged: 2019-03-21 20:38:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,427
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13748805
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AmiLu/pseuds/AmiLu
Summary: Some things have changed in the last four years, but some others haven't.





	time, like a trickle

**Author's Note:**

> *coughs* I'm not exactly sure up to what chapter of the manga this covers, but way up the 100. I watched two episodes of the anime before Aster's (Asta? I cannot write it like that as I read it as Aster first xD) voice got on my nerves and I couldn't continue it, ahahaha. Read the endnotes if you want to know what the spoiler is about (and if it is actually a spoiler, as I dunno what has been covered in the anime so far).
> 
> Other than that, enjoy this silly thing!

The lights flash bright and the violin's cries get louder, reaching a crescendo before disappearing, suddenly and without any kind of warning. It leaves Yuno feeling wrong-footed and confused, and he looks around to see whether he's the only one.

A voice of indistinct gender starts singing, soulful and soft, in a language that Yuno isn’t familiar with, and it is slowly joined by others. The harmonizing voices have a velvety, ethereal quality that lulls him, makes him feel dizzy as his heart beats at the rhythm of the song.

There's a thud at his side and he looks down curiously, puzzled and not quite understanding what he's seeing.

That's red.

That's way too much red to be normal.

It slowly spreads out from the man that's resting on the floor. Why is he there? Why is there red?

The voices get louder, and suddenly thinking of anything at all becomes difficult. The figure disappears. What figure?

Wait. That's not right.

He struggles to open his eyes, brow furrowed as he realizes he has closed them without noticing.

That's not good. Not good, not good, _not good!_

As his alarm grows, his mind clears the fog and he becomes aware of his body. He’s sprawled on his stomach, his left cheek on the sticky floor. His arms are bent at the elbows in ninety degrees; his right hand at level with his eyes. The whole thing is a problem because Yuno doesn’t remember falling at all. His whole body feels unnaturally heavy, from the tip of his toes to both his eyelids. Just keeping his eyes open is a struggle, and he doesn’t like the implications.

He needs to _wake up!_

His limbs are sluggish and don't quite react when he wants to push himself up, so he quickly searches for another solution to his problem.

Pain. He needs just a bit of pain to push out all other sensation and get back to himself. His arms won’t work, but he can command his mouth without a problem, so he bites his lip with all the force he can muster until he makes it bleed.

It stings, and he can taste copper in his mouth, but it does what he wants.

Everything suddenly comes into focus, sharp and clear, from his vision to his hearing and his very sense of self. His magic buzzes beneath his skin, giving him a new understanding of his environment and its sounds: slashing metal; somebody’s unhinged laugh.

The singing tries to ensnare him back under its influence, but his anger fights it by flooding his veins, hot and prickling.

Yuno snarls. _Magic!_

Now that he's aware of it, he won't let himself get pulled into such a spell any longer.

"Bell," he calls, and the little glyph flutters down just in front of his eyes, looking worried up until she sees him looking right back at her.

"Oh, Golden Threads of Magic! I'm so happy Yuno is awake!" she says, sounding incredibly relieved. She flies around his head in a quick burst of wind, thankfully not hindering Yuno’s efforts to get back on his feet. "I didn't know what else to do! Dumbaster told me to protect you and everyone else I could until you woke up, but I was getting really worried!"

He ignores most of Bell's babble, focusing on the fact that Aster is awake and most likely fighting the enemy that has so boldly dared to attack two of the most renowned Magic Knights in their district's annual Charity Ball.

Yuno doesn’t know whether the enemy is just plain stupid or delusionally powerful attacking them like this, but there is one thing he's completely sure about: whoever they are, they won’t get away with attacking _his_ people.

(He doesn't see Sister or the kids among the bodies on the ground, but there are others he recognizes—the sharp-tongued but good-meaning grocer that sneaked in discounts for the orphans, the little old lady that always brought cookies to the Orphanage on Sundays, the loud and snotty neighbor that loved to complain but gave them some money in exchange for doing some chores. He hopes they're only unconscious, because if they aren't—

Well. Whoever is responsible would _pay,_ anyway.)

“Wind Magic,” he chants, lifting a hand with his fingers spread out. Even before he finishes the incantation the air around him shifts, eager to please its master. When the command comes, it’s snappish and full of rightful anger: “ _Shattering Storm.”_

A gale of wind sweeps the room with a deafening roar, disrupting the chanting and shifting the attention of the two people engaged in combat from each other to Yuno.

Aster grins, wide and with too many teeth, but it makes something in Yuno’s chest uncoil and his muscles relax.

“It was time you woke up!” Boisterous as always, Aster swings his humongous sword without any visible effort. “What took ya so long, sleepin’ beauty?”

“Bell!” Yuno orders, ignoring the quip in favor of directing his attack to the man right behind Aster.

“Right!”

Bell is quick and deadly as she flies following Yuno’s command. Before he can react, she slashes the enemy’s torso with immense power, sending him flying back and up several feet.

He grunts and coughs up blood as he lands, but Yuno doesn’t feel the least bit of compassion for his plight. He dared bring destruction into these walls and cause damage to his people, so he deserves whatever he gets.

The singing starts again and he immediately swerves around, trying to locate its source.

“They’re over there!” Aster says, pointing over to the balustrade. Yuno follows the direction with his eyes, finding two cloaked individuals with their grimoires open. “There were more, but I think they flew. Take care of ‘em; I’ll deal with mister creepy-laugh here.”

Yuno grunts in confirmation and after a skilled twist of his wrist and a jump, he’s flying towards the cloaked enemies. Bell chimes as she flies past him, faster than he ever will hope to be, and together they quickly and efficiently deal with the two, as they are too distracted with the chant to put up much of a fight.

Now that the danger has mostly been dealt with, Yuno’s anger is cooling down.

He looks over his shoulder to find Aster delivering his last attack, completely knocking off the man with the ax, whose weapon shatters into light particles and returns to the man’s grimoire as he falls unconscious. Yuno grunts softly as he drops the two bound bodies down a floor, and then he descends himself with the help of his magic, gentle once again.

“Everyone's safe, I sent them away as soon as I could,” Aster tells him as soon as he lands. Yuno inclines his head in thanks and feels what was left of his tension leave his body. “You scared me there for a moment, Yuno.” Aster's light-hearted tone does not match the expression in his eyes. His sword is back on his grimoire, and he has the man he knocked unconscious thrown over his shoulder. He’s grown a little over the last four years and it shows: he doesn’t make the ridiculous image he’d have made when they were younger. He will never be very tall, but there’s something in his eyes, in his presence, that makes him seem like a giant. “There was a lot of blood around you.”

“Not mine,” Yuno says, unconsciously looking down at his formalwear. He grimaces in distaste when he notices the state of it. That will cost a fortune to replace. Then he looks back at the body and tightens his lips. The dead man has the same uniform the rest of their enemies wear, and Yuno's theory is that he attacked him. His body probably reacted to the threat even though his mind was being ensnared by the music. Good riddance. He faces Aster again and says, “It’s not your job to worry about me.”

Aster scowls, immediately reminding Yuno of his fifteen-years-old self. “Of course it is,” he says, frowning stubbornly. “I’m your boyfriend!”

Yuno rolls his eyes but can’t quite suppress the smile tugging at his lips. He flicks Aster’s nose and turns around, creating a small platform of wind with his left hand to carry the bodies while ignoring Aster’s indignant squawk. “Once you’ve bested me, maybe.”

“Yuno? Oi, bastard, wait! What do you mean, ‘once you’ve bested me’? Yuno? _Yuno!”_

Covering his mouth with his free hand, Yuno laughs. Some things have changed, yes, but some others haven't.

  
  
FIN

**Author's Note:**

> Spoiler: Bell, the little glyph. She's part of Yuno's power. (Also called Sylph!)
> 
> I hope you liked it! :D Thank you for reading!
> 
> [EDIT April 4, 2018: uh, I changed and added some bits to make a little bit more of sense. Honestly, before they seemed to be inside a bubble hahaha.]
> 
> ~~Now I've gotta catch up with this manga; I just looked it up again and there are a lot of chapters I haven't read! _Shame!_~~
> 
>  
> 
> You can find me on tumblr! (@kurosakiami01)


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